Film Review – Buddy

August 27th, 2026 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

Writer/director Casper Kelly made a big splash with the short film Too Many Cooks (2014). A parody of TV sitcoms of the 80s and 90s, the short started out with a generic title sequence that quickly descended into a bizarre slasher. A serial killer popped out of nowhere to take down the characters introduced in the montage…while the montage was happening. Too Many Cooks premiered on Adult Swim during a late-night programming block but became a viral hit once it was uploaded online. It not only satirized the tropes of sitcoms – complete with a catchy theme song – but it also shook us out of our nostalgia by introducing a malevolent force to disrupt the status quo. I can only imagine what it was like watching it half asleep in the middle of the night.

Over a decade later and Kelly has returned once more to add nightmare fuel inside of a family friendly world. This time, he sets his sights at educational television shows aimed toward preschoolers. Buddy (2026) is a not-so-subtle dig at programs like Sesame Street, The Backyardigans, Teletubbies, and Barney & Friends. Barney is the central point of satire here, as the titular character Buddy (Sergey Zhuravsky in the suit, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) is also a big and friendly animal – in this case an orange unicorn – who likes to sing songs about loving one another. Just as he did with Too Many Cooks, Kelly (who also cowrites with Jamie King) creates a terrifying hellscape where everything that is supposed to be safe and happy becomes a threat.

The production design (Anna Kathleen) nails the look and feel of the fake Buddy television show. I was way too old to ever get into Barney or Teletubbies, but I was aware of their existence in pop culture. The same kind of textures are transferred here, from the bright pastel colors, the artificial sets, to props that come alive and talk like any other character. The opening scenes portray Buddy’s world as a typical show, where he teaches a group of kids – Josh (Luke Speakman), Freddy (Delaney Quinn), Oliver (Tristan Borders), Wade (Caleb Williams), and Hannah (Madison Skyy Polan) – basic lessons like being nice to others or the importance of cleaning up. Every so often, Buddy will stop things so everyone can break out into a song and dance number. The cinematography (Zach Kuperstein) incorporates the same visual aesthetic of an old television set. If things were played out completely straight forward for half an hour, this could have very well made a convincing show. Of course, if that were the case, we wouldn’t have much of a movie.

At the most basic level, this kind of television does offer some benefits in terms of entertainment and education (at least in small doses). But as an adult, I can understand how a character like Barney singing “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family…” can get aggravating. Maybe that’s why, when the narrative veers toward more sinister avenues, the effect is both unnerving and hilarious. It starts off with a small indiscretion: a kid not wanting to participate in a dance. At first, Buddy takes it in stride, trying to nudge them into it. But when the resistance becomes antagonistic, that is when the switch is flipped. In the next episode, the problem child is nowhere to be found. Freddy becomes suspicious and schemes with the other kids to find a way out of the show’s universe. Unfortunately, Buddy has other plans. When things don’t go his way, he’s no longer the friendly unicorn he makes himself out to be.

When the narrative goes into full horror mode, Kelly and his crew pull no punches. There are instances of bloody gore and graphic violence. No one is safe, whether it is the adults, the magical creatures, or the kids themselves. The contrast between the colors of Buddy’s home and the spooky environments just beyond his fence creates a kind of dreamy, fairytale like atmosphere. The artificiality amplifies the sense of doom, because it increasingly feels like the kids are trapped inside of a hallucination. I’m fairly certain Kelly is a fan of The Night of the Hunter (1955), which was also about kids trying to escape the clutches of a dastardly villain. You might think that comparison is a stretch. However, there are distinct parallels between the two films. At one point, Freddy and the other kids duck away while Buddy calls to them from the horizon. The image of Buddy’s silhouette creeping in the far distance is a near replica of the scene in The Night of the Hunter where the killer Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) is shown doing the same thing.

Buddy is the kind of flick that isn’t all that interested in character development or thematic consistency. Its main objective is in the shock and awe of a kids’ program getting twisted beyond recognition. Is the approach a gimmick? Probably, but the gimmick is so clever and fun that we remain curious where things will go. The only time the film stumbles is when the focus turns away from the “Kids vs. Buddy” storyline. There is an extended sequence in which we depart from the show into the “real” world, where we meet married couple Grace (Cristin Milioti) and Ben (Topher Grace) and their children. The cinematography changes to a more modern, traditional look to signify that we are no longer in Buddy’s dimension. Grace and Ben’s connection to Buddy is eventually revealed – sadly, this also turns out to be the film’s weakest link. This B plot isn’t very compelling, the characters are uninteresting, and where it all ends up is anticlimactic. The longer we are stuck with Grace and Ben, the more we wish the narrative would get back to the more pressing issue involving Freddy, her friends, and Buddy. 

Buddy runs out of steam in its final minutes, meandering to a close that doesn’t live up to the potential the first half established. Despite that nitpick, I enjoyed the overall result. Casper Kelly has a knack for taking familiar ingredients and making them unfamiliar. He did it once before with Too Many Cooks, and he does it again here. I don’t know if this is for everyone – some may not latch onto the tongue-in-cheek satire Kelly brings to the table. But for those that do, they’ll have an absolute blast. 

Anna Kathleen, Barney & Friends, buddy, Caleb Williams, Casper Kelly, Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Featured, Jamie King, Keegan-Michael Key, Luke Speakman, Madison Skyy Polan, Robert Mitchum, Sergey Zhuravsky, Sesame Street, Teletubbies, The Backyardigans, The Night of the Hunter, Too Many Cooks, Topher Grace, Tristan Borders, Zach Kuperstein